Don't get sick in Thailand

I don't want to insult the entire system here, especially with a sister in medical school (Palm!). But a recent experience has made me think twice about getting hit by cars or falling down stairs during my stay in Thailand.

My left eye was having some issues here. It would get real red and painful for a few days, every few weeks, so finally I let them take me to the hospital. Going to the hospital isn't as serious here as it is in America. People go for allergies, colds, and apparently eye pain.

When we got there (I went with a teacher from school), I filled out a short form. They had me write my parents' names on the back, but wouldn't explain to me why. They took my passport and international ID card and processed everything. It didn't take long. This all happened in a huge, open waiting room. There were probably about 50 people there, most of them staring at me.

Then they took my blood pressure and asked for my weight. I don't know my current weight in pounds, much less kilos, so they took me over to the scale. It was in the middle of the big waiting room. The whole room focused on me, but I thought luckily, they can't read the number!

"Whoa!!! 62 kilos!!!" shouts the nurse. Thanks.

Then I waited for the doctor. The teacher I came with had left me long before to visit with some friends at the hospital, so I waited with some older women who kept asking me if I had a boyfriend. That's a common question, usually from mothers with sons. These women were asking me because, according to them, the doctor I was about to see was extremely handsome!

The doctor was in a dark, dingy little room, open to a bunch of offices behind the waiting room. He was really young, and spoke excellent English. He asked me a few questions about my eye, typing all the answers into the computer. Then he said he needed to look at my eye. In America, eyes are examined by eye doctors, in sterile environments, with expensive tools. Unnecessary in Thailand! Why use expensive equipment when everyone has a flashlight laying around? So he used his bare hands, which had just been typing on an old keyboard, and prodded around my eye with his flashlight.

After all this, he concluded that my left eye is allergic to bike riding and sunshine in Thailand. He prescribed some allergy medication and told me to wear sunglasses.

The whole affair cost me about $2.60. Probably for batteries for the flashlight.

Note: My eye still has problems. My host mom wants to take me to see an actual eye doctor this weekend...I'm a little scared.